Sideward flight is a manuevre that is peculiar to helicopters v. aeroplanes. But there is little practical use for it other than to go, "Lookee here, I can fly sideways!" Because we helicopter pilots are such paranoid blokes when it comes to failures, we worry about having to be on the ground immediately! A surprise tail rotor failure or engine failure in a hover (I know pilots who've had both) or other malady will put you on the ground faster than you can say, "What the...?" If you happen to have some sideward motion at the time of touchdown things can get messy. So in some circles it's considered bad form to hover sideways, just in case.
Similarly, pilots who hover-taxi a little too fast and a little too high will sometimes make banked turns as they negotiate the particular path over the ground they wish to follow. It is merely an expedient for the lazy or those who are in such a huge hurry that they forget the basics. And it too is bad form. If the dreaded engine failure were to happen when you were close to the ground and banked over like that, you'd be one awfully busy budgie trying to get everything evened out before the skids touched. And hey, maybe you're that good! I'm pretty sure I am, but I'd rather not have to take the surprise pop-quiz on it.
We practice engine cuts in a hover. In a turbine, especially one with certain RR-250 series engines they are yawn-inducing, slow-motion events due to the scheduled decelleration of these engines (i.e. there is a minimum decelleration time that they must meet no matter how quickly the pilot jerks the throttle from full to idle). Pilots who've had real engine failures tell me that they are nothing like the lazy, easy ones we practice, and that the power goes away suddenly, like killing the mags on a recip. Me, I'll take their word on that one.
Now I've never had an engine failure. Yet. I am convinced that it will happen the very day I decide to let my guard down and say, "Ah, screw it," and hover-taxi fast to parking, banking the thing over in the turns as I go. That is my luck and I've learnt not to press it. Your marriage may vary.
I've got some other pet peeves too, many of which I've written about in these very pages. And it makes me wonder if other guys who watch me fly don't sometimes shake their clenched fists in front of their red faces and go, "Oooooh, that guy! I HATE when he does that! Doesn't he know how dangerous that is?!"
Heh. I mean, you never know! There is more than one "right" way to fly, as long as you don't crash the ship, I suppose. Each pilot has The Way that is right for him/her, and he/she probably considers every other way to be just plain wrong.